Roses | ziam.

From The Outside Looking In

Liam was all in a dither.

The brunette liked to think that he could effortlessly offer an unflappable and composed exterior to the world at all times. He had succinctly established that fact by exerting absolute control over his mannerisms during the last date with Zayn. He had made sure that his expression was a seamless blend of polite indifference and detachment, although his heart subversively hinted otherwise.

The landscape that greeted the brunette was a dazzling display of red and yellow. The gloriously sweet scent of heady flowers bombarded Liam. Golden prisms of sunlight were flung carelessly and extravagantly over blades of freshly-cut grass. It was a breathtaking play of shadow and light, radiant enough for the devoted artist to set up canvas and easel and paint his heart out.

But it did nothing to calm Liam down.

Liam gnawed on his knuckle unwittingly as he paced the ground furiously like a caged animal. He was in front of the huge building that he was supposed to meet the ravenette for their second date. The whole area was owned by Theodore and Jean, Zayn's good friends in school.

Liam knew all about it since the newspaper had done a two-page spread about the grand opening of the sports complex. Moreover, some of Liam's business acquaintances frequented the place for the occasional relaxing game of golf. That was it. They did invite Liam along for one of their games, but frankly, the brunette couldn't see any point in whacking a tiny ball with a metal stick and praying like hell that it fell neatly into the damn hole.

Behind him, a curious Zayn paused momentarily in his tracks then shrugged, approached Liam from the back and tapped the brunette gently on the shoulder.

In reply, Liam jumped out of his skin and squawked like a demented parrot.

"Don't touch me, Malik! You're not holding any boxing gloves, are you?! I can take you on anytime you want!" Liam immediately blurted out upon seeing the lad and windmilled his arms wildly, hoping to pass it off as some wonky self-defense tactic.

Zayn looked at Liam like he had gone slightly mad.

"Are you alright? You seem a bit… off today," Zayn pointed out and then shot the blond a quizzical look when Liam motioned warily at the picnic basket that Zayn held.

"What's in there?"

"I packed some food for the both of us. Are you sure you're fine?" Zayn repeated, studying Liam with a concerned gaze and lightly squeezing the top of his left arm.

Liam's lips pulled together in a somber line and he sucked in a restoring breath tightly. "Let's go then. What are you waiting for?" Liam sniffed loftily and trotted off, his head held high and nose in the air. Zayn blinked at this sudden turn-about in Liam's character and raised an eyebrow inquisitively before hurrying after the brunette.

There was a pretty good crowd for a lazy Sunday afternoon. Dangling sturdily from the ceiling was a huge screen that detailed the type and locations of the classes held hourly. Tipping his head to one side, Liam let his eyes wander around the screen.

"Zayn, mate! Here for your usual laps around the pool?" Theodore beamed and clapped his old friend jovially on the back. Beside him, Jean was touching up on a few of the advertorial posters that he had drawn up especially for the center. Upon hearing Theodore's genial greeting, Jean looked up and matched Theodore's grin.

"Still teaching football classes, Jean? How are the missus and the kids, Theo?" Zayn asked, returning their smiles.

Liam dawdled behind uncertainly, but plodded forth when Zayn back-tracked and tugged him along.